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Avast Review

Avast Review

Most free antivirus programs don’t offer much besides basic malware protection, but Avast Free Antivirus is a half-step toward being a full-fledged security suite, with many features you’d normally be charged for. It has not only a password manager and a local-network security scanner but gives you lots of configuration options. [UPDATE: Since this review was first posted, Avast Free Antivirus has added a secure browser.]

Yet while it didn’t say much of our computer’s performance, Avast Free Antivirus took a long time to scan, and its malware protection could be better.

One of this edition’s new features needs a special mention because it’s virtually invisible. If you install another antivirus with Avast already on the system, it automatically goes into Passive Mode. To avoid conflicts, it disables all real-time scanning and other active protection. You can still launch scans manually. There’s precedent for this behavior—Microsoft Windows Defender does something similar.

Avast Antivirus Features

Like most free antivirus products, Avast Free Antivirus has no sandbox to dry-run suspect software. But it does have a password manager, which you won’t find in most free AV software

Avast Free Antivirus’ impact on system performance was excellent, as long as you don’t mind long scan times

Avast’s user interface is bright, with lots of white, orange and green, although subsidiary windows can be darker

Pros

Network security inspector.

Password manager.

Many useful, security-related bonus features.

Absolutely free.

Cons

Some bonus features require separate purchase

Conclusion

AV-Test Institute rates antivirus products on three criteria: protection, performance, and usability (where usability means few false positives). A product can earn six points for each. Avast earned that six points in protection and usability, but it fell down in the performance category.